Memories, Melodies, Lovers, Friends and Enemies
by MiniHayden
Summary: Chills in the Evening: Danny's trying his best to cope after Sam's death. How does he handle school, some reporters and an awkward talk with his mother? Only slight hints at DxS, really just a random idea that popped into my head. Post-PP. Songfic!
1. POV

**Me: Hey everyone and welcome to my cure for writer's block!**

**Danny: It's not a cure, it's what you do while you get wait for inspiration.**

**Me: Whatever. Anyway, I'm dumping all my songfics here. Reviews would be awesome! Sorry for all the people who are waiting for EXILE, it's been ages I know, but I have MAJOR writer's block at the moment. And apologies to everyone else, I have a pact that I update my fics in order XD.**

_**Songfic 1: P.O.V by McFly**_

_I'm getting tired of asking, this is the final time,_

"Sorry Amber," his voice was quiet, "I can't make it."

"Why?" I wrapped my scarf around my neck tighter, trying my best to keep warm in the freezing wind.

"Something came up. We'll see the movie another time, OK?"

"What could have come up in the last hour?" I brushed the snow off the bench and sat down, hugging my knees with one numb hand and clutching my phone with the other.

"A family emergency. Don't worry about it. Gotta go. Bye."

_So did I make you happy? Because you cried an ocean,_

The snow crunched beneath my feet as it walked slowly towards home, leaving deep footprints that disappeared as more flakes fell to the ground. The power had gone out in the lamp posts, and I was forced to make my journey in the freezing, icy dark.

The movie would have started by now, I thought. We could have been snuggled up with some popcorn, watching the film I wanted to see the most, Just My luck. But he had made up probably another lie, leaving me outside in the cold at way past midnight.

_But there's a thousand lines about the way you smile, written in my mind,  
><em>

_But every single word's a lie._

"What's a little girl like you doing out on your own this late?" I heard a gruff voice coming from behind me.

I whipped round. A large male figure with a ski mask loomed over me, holding a black shiny object which looked horribly like a gun.

I tried to stay calm. "I'm going home," I said simply.

The man ignored me, "You got a name, sweetie?"

"Amber. Amber McLain."

"Well, _Amber McLain, _if you come with me, I won't hurt you." He grabbed my wrist and started to lead me down an alley.

I screamed at the top of my voice and broke away. I ran back out onto the street and fled down the road, not caring which way I went.

_I never wanted everything to end this way, but you can take the bluest sky and turn it grey._

If the man had pursued, he never caught up, because I soon found myself stumbling through the front door of my house and turning on the fire.

I checked around the house and found that all the power was off here too, so I just sat in front of the fire, keeping warm. I eventually changed into the only clothes that were clean; a tight black top that cut off above my stomach, some black leggings with a big silver belt and a single glove to keep at least one of my hands from going any more numb. I couldn't be bothered to take my bracelet and choker off, even though the cold from them gripped my skin._  
><em>

_I swore to you that I would do my best to change, but you said it don't matter,_

About an hour passed of just me sitting there, watching the dancing flames jump around in the fireplace. A few sparks flew out and hit my skin, but I ignored the tiny burns and continued to stare endlessly at the golden light. I had nothing to do; my parents were out for the weekend.

_I'm looking at you from another point of view; I don't know how the hell I fell in love with you,_

I came back down to Earth after a while and realised that I needed some sleep. Checking that the door was locked before I settled down, I curled up on the sofa, much too tired to crawl upstairs to my room. The glow of the fire was the only thing that lit the small living room as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

_I'd never wish for anyone to feel the way I do._

But now that I think back, I knew I should have turned that fire off.

_Is this a sign from Heaven, showing me the light?_

I just woke up and found the house in ashes around me. There were firemen everywhere looking for things under the burnt rubble, and I kept waving to them, from a distance away, somehow out of the house and on the snow-covered street.

_Was this supposed to happen?_

But why didn't they reply to me? I sat down on a charred plank of wood and guessed that they were looking to recover lost items to give us as little insurance money as possible. 

They eventually pulled out a pink and blue object, which I instantly recognised as a guitar – _my_ guitar. I ran towards the man clutching it and patted him on the shoulder.

"Can I have my guitar please? And have you found my phone? I need to call my parents."

He gave no response and looked in my direction blankly, as if I wasn't there. The man soon shrugged and went back to the fire chief, leaving my instrument on the top of a pile of recovered belongings. I glared at him, angry for the fact that he acted like I was invisible.

As I reached for my guitar, I realised that I actually was. I couldn't see my arm, but I knew it was there because I could feel it.

I had no time to think about this because I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Yes, sir, that's my little Amber," my mother said in choked voice. She was looking at something on the floor, her eyes filled with tears.

"What are you talking about?" I called to her as I ran, "I'm right here!"

I realised my dad was there too, holding his wife's hand and trying to comfort her.

"There's nothing we could have done honey. Come on, Amber wouldn't have wanted us to stand here crying over her, would she?"

Confused, I looked down. My eyes widened and I stepped back in horror. _I_ was lying on the floor, a sheet covering all of my body except my head. What was going on?

_I'm better off without you, so you can leave tonight,_

Then I somehow managed to add everything up. The crying, the invisibility, the body.

I was _dead._

The fire had killed me, but… I was still here. I. Was. Still. Here. How? How could I still be here? Maybe… that was it. I was ghost. A ghost with nothing but a grudge against a boy. Was that why I remained on Earth? Did it have something to do with _him_?

Picking up my guitar and whispering a soft, unheard goodbye to my broken parents, I trudged down the icy street. My big, heavy boots left no footprints in the snow and made no sound as I walked. I never shivered, even though I had nothing on that could keep me warm. My head felt hot, but I guessed it was because of some kind of headache. A ghost-headache.

After a while I suddenly became visible again. It didn't make much difference though. My skin was a deathly pale colour and it looked horrible.

_And don't you dare come back and try to make things right,_

Finding a bench to sit down on, I tried my best to motivate myself to play my guitar. It was probably the only thing from now on that was going to keep me sane, so I pulled out the pick I kept tucked under the strings and played a few notes.

Unlike my voice, the music rang out through the cold silence and I soon found that a song was forming in my head. Someday, I would find the courage to sing it, but not today.

"Hey kid, you need anything?" A concerned-looking man in his forties plodded over to me with gloved hands in his pockets.

"No, I'm fine," I told him, forgetting to realise that someone had seen me.

"Are you sure?" he sounded worried for me, "you look… cold."

"I'm sure sir, I'm perfectly OK."

"If you're sure you're good then… I'll leave you to it," he handed me a small amount of money and began to walk away.

"Thanks," I said to the man as he left.

"No worries," he called back over his shoulder, "it's for the wig! I love it!"

Wig? What wig?

I caught sight of my reflection in a nearby shop window and almost fell off the bench in surprise.

My once golden-brown hair was now a bright blue, but that wasn't what shocked me. It was on _fire._

_'Cause I'll be ready for a fight, yeah._

Touching my hair didn't seem to burn or hurt, and I assumed that it was another ghostly side-effect. My eyes were a neon green and they pierced through the early-morning darkness like knives.

I wasn't Amber anymore, I realised. I had to be something else, because my reflection wasn't Amber. It was… more like Ember.

I was Ember McLain.

_I never wanted everything to end this way,  
>But you can take the bluest sky and turn it grey.<br>I swore to you that I would do my best to change,  
>But you said it don't matter,<br>I'm looking at you from another point of view,  
>I don't know how the hell I fell in love with you,<br>I'd never wish for anyone to feel the way I do._

**Danny: And… finish. **

**Me: Yep, that was the first of 100 songfics. You heard it guys, ONE-HUNDRED. One hundred different songfics will be on here over time. So good luck to me XD**


	2. Chills in the Evening

**Me: It's strange that all I ever put in my story and one-shot dump are songfics. I guess the music provides inspiration or something.**

**Danny: I don't think there's any surprise the song Hayden chose for this fic is by McFly.**

**Me: Actually, Daniel dear, this song was written by McFly for a band called V, but I'm using their cover.**

**Danny: *grumbles* that doesn't change anything.**

**Me: I would still use this song even if it wasn't by my favourite band. The song is so emotional and the lyrics really tie in with what I was writing. So that's to all the readers: give this song a listen! You'll love the uh… sadness of it XD**

_Being with you was all that I needed,  
>I don't know why you were too blind to see it.<br>Now you're gone and I need you here tonight._

"You OK Danny?" Mum opened my bedroom door and poked her head through the entrance.

Not wanting to speak to her, I rolled over, covering myself with blankets and putting a pillow over my head.

"Danny?" I heard her soft footsteps as she walked over to my bed and sat down by my side. I felt her gloved hand on my shoulder and I wriggled away, tears forming in my eyes.

"It's not your fault, sweetie," Mum lifted up my pillow gently and kissed my check. Her voice was quiet and low. Cautious too, like she knew how close I was to completely losing it and breaking down.

Turning my head, I looked up into her amethyst eyes. She returned my gaze and smiled a warm smile which was an attempt to make me feel better. It didn't.

"It is," I replied, barely audible.

"No one ever knew it was going to happen like this," she said softly, "you are the town's protector, and you need to learn that you can't save everyone. Heroes need to move on."

"But how can I be a hero if I _lost__her_?" I suddenly shouted, my voice breaking at the end of my question.

Mum shuffled back, still unused to the fact that my eyes would glow green sometimes when I was angry.

"Sorry," I apologised. I shrugged, "I guess that's another bad thing about me, right? Being able to scare people away."

She stroked loose strands of hair out my face as my eyes faded back to their usual icy blue. "Danny, you know that that's not true. You're unique. Unique is good."

"That's what Sam used to say," I mumbled, "you don't understand, Mum. She's dead. _Dead._ And don't start all that crud about how it's not my fault, because we both know deep down that is was." Mum remained silent. I just guessed that she was unsure of what to say next, so I carried on, "I kept telling her how risky, how_dangerous_, it was for her to be with me." I sat up and stared at my feet poking out the other end of the blanket, one still bruised from the earlier fight with Skulker. "I didn't manage to convince her, and now's she paid the price instead of me."

"But you know that she'll come back as a gho-"

"No she won't, Mum," I interrupted, "only one in a billion people come back as ghosts. The Ghost Zone can't hold everyone. I should know – I'm half of one. That's how this all started anyway, that stupid accident. These stupid 'powers'. This bloody _half-life_. I've been out there for a year now, sleepless nights, countless detentions for homework I didn't have time to do. And nobody knew it was me. I was just your average, everyday nerd who pushed around by jocks all day, and-"

Tears began to run down my pale, cold face and I leaned forward into my mother's now open arms. We stayed there for ages until I finally pulled away with a quiet sigh.

"Get some sleep," she whispered softly, "I know it may not seem like it now, but it will all be better in the morning. You'll have school again and everything will be back to the way it was."

"But without Sam," I muttered.

"Yes, without Sam," she agreed sadly, "but that's OK, because I know you're strong. Now like I said, get some sleep. I love you, my little Phantom."

I smiled ever so slightly at the babyish nickname she gave me, but it soon faded as she closed the door behind her and left my lying alone in the darkness.

_You __know __that __I __can't __sleep__ '__cause __I__'__m __terrified.  
>It <em>_feels __like __I__'__m __falling __down __really __fast __inside.  
>And <em>_I'm __wishing __the __night __away.  
>The <em>_chills __in __the __evening, __they __won__'__t __go __away._

_Sometimes __I __feel __like __I __can't __go __on __living.  
>There's <em>_not __much __to __take __when __you__'__ve __done __all __the __giving.  
>Now <em>_you're __gone __and __I __need __you __here __tonight._

"Oh, good morning, Mr Fenton," Mr Lancer seemed genuinely surprised as I stepped into the classroom a few minutes late after a run-in with the Box-Ghost.

My hair was duller than usual, and the already-small spark of life in my eyes had completely faded. If it was any other day, I would have actually have cared somewhat about my appearance.

Tucker and Dash looked up from their work, just as shocked as my teacher was.

"Well," Mr Lancer said after an awkward pause of me standing by the door, "we're doing Shakespeare today like last week. There's a play on your desk Daniel and we're answering the questions I have written on the board. Page 33."

I nodded solemnly and trudged over to my friends.

"We heard the news," Dash said as I sat down.

"Yeah," I replied quickly, opening my book, "I kinda guessed that you would."

"You know, I'm here for you, as your buddy, right?"

"Don't start that again, Dash. You only like me because I'm Phantom." I said in a harsher way than I meant.

The jock looked slightly stunned, and there was a long awkward silence.

Tucker tried to lighten the mood, "I finished all my paperwork last night Danny, so if you want to go to the arcade or something…" he trailed off when he saw that I wasn't really listening. "Maybe tomorrow," he added quickly.

"Yeah. What's the answer to question two?" I asked him bluntly.

"Puck," Tucker answered. "The fairy's name is Puck."

"Then the answer to question three is line 6," Dash said, trying in his own way to make things better.

"Uh, thanks," I muttered, jotting it down.

_You __know __that __I __can't __sleep__ '__cause __I__'__m __terrified.  
>It <em>_feels __like __I__'__m __falling __down __really __fast __inside.  
>And <em>_I'm __wishing __the __night __away.  
>The <em>_chills __in __the __evening, __they __won__'__t __go __away._

School seemed to drag on for a year. I got the usual crowd of girls following me, the usual decision about where to sit at lunch, the usual love notes left in my locker. Except now I only had one friend to share it with. I could have counted Dash, but he didn't really like me. And neither did Paulina. No matter how much she denied it, we all knew that she was in love with the Ghost Boy, not Danny Fenton.

Like every day when I got home, I could smell dinner cooking. Jazz had decided to take a break from her book and help Mum in the kitchen. They were both chopping up bananas as I came in and sat down at the table.

"Hey Danny," Jazz said cheerfully, "we're making dessert. The meatloaf's already done." My older sister smiled sweetly at me. "Also, a few news reporters are coming round for dinner," she added, "They wanted to know about-"

"About Sam," I finished darkly.

A look of sympathy flickered across her face and she didn't reply.

"Maddie!" my dad shouted as he burst through the front door, "I brought the fries!" he rushed with a shopping bag into the kitchen and dropped it next to her.

"Thank you, dear," Maddie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and took the food out of the bag.

"Are the reporters here yet, Danny-boy?" Dad sat beside me and gave me a playful punch on the shoulder.

"No," I said, staring at my hands.

"Cheer up, son. Sam wouldn't want you sulk all the time," he became more serious and thoughtful.

"I'm glad you've finally mentioned her," I replied, not looking my father in the eye, "I was starting to think that you'd either forgotten about her or just didn't care."

Jack shuffled in his seat slightly, unsure what to say. Silence hung in the air and I leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes. I honestly didn't know how I was going to last the evening.

_And now I need to find a way to stop this pain from getting stronger.  
>And I just can't explain, I don't understand<br>Why you left me here…_

A few minutes later, I heard the familiar ring of the doorbell and guessed that the reporters were waiting. My family looked expectantly at me, and I guess that they wanted me to invite them in.

Sighing, I got up reluctantly out of my seat and walked through the front room, up to the door. When I got closer I could hear mumbling coming from the other side and the occasional raised voice. Cameras were flashing already, waiting to get the exact shot of Danny Phantom opening the door that led into his home.

I winced when I turned the handle and heard excited childish whispers start. Pulling the door open slowly, I put on the most convincing false smile I could manage.

_You __know __that __I __can't __sleep '__cause I'm __terrified,  
>It feels <em>_like __im __falling __down __really __fast __inside.__  
>And <em>_I'm __wishing __the __night __away.  
><em>_These chills __in the __evening,  
>They <em>_won__'__t __go __away._

…

_They won't go away._

**Danny: Is that it? No interview with the reporters? :(**

**Me: These are only little plot bunnies, Daniel dear. XD I might turn it into a story, but it's just an idea. I have EIGHTEEN other fics planned out and ready to write for Danny Phantom (and a couple for Warriors if you guys like that book series), but after I finish my four current fics I'll only be writing two a time.**

**Danny: Well, hope you enjoyed this everybody!**

**Me: It was really just practice, I don't think there's a significant plot here… bye anyway!**


End file.
